1 posts categorized "Northwestern University Law School"

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The recession has made big law firms in Chicago even pickier when it comes to recruiting at law schools.

Firms have slashed the number of on-campus visits this year, as recruiting and hiring budgets have been cut. Seyfarth Shaw canceled its 2010 summer program. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, which has a large Chicago presence, has said it expects to hire nationally about 100 interns--also known as summer associates—next year, down from 225 in this year’s summer class.

Other law firms also have downsized their summer programs but are not publicly talking about their plans. Mayer Brown and Winston & Strawn declined to comment Monday and Jenner & Block did not return a request for comment.

Law schools of every ilk are feeling the effects, from elite private institutions like Northwestern to state schools like the University of Illinois.

“Many law firms still are finalizing their overall hiring needs,” said Don Rebstock, Northwestern’s associate dean of enrollment, career strategy, and marketing, said in an e-mail response. “Because of this, we may offer a second on-campus interviewing program sometime in the spring.”

Northwestern students have somewhat brighter job prospects than their peers at lower-ranked schools because big law firms remain prestige-conscious.

“We’ve had large national firms tell us they can only go to three or four law schools,” said Tony Waller, assistant dean for career planning at professional development at the University of Illinois College of Law. “For Chicago firms, that means (University of) Chicago, Northwestern and Michigan.”

The U. of I. College of Law expects about 60 firms from across the country to send attorneys to campus this year for on-campus interviews, down from a peak of more than 100 just two years ago, Waller said. He declined to reveal which Chicago firms canceled because he didn’t want to single anyone out. But he said he was surprised by some of the firms that bypassed Illinois.

“When you make a decision not to come on campus, students remember that,” Waller said.

Summer programs for second-year law students are the primary vehicle through which big law firms hire entry-level lawyers. Many summer associates are offered full-time employment.

But firms are re-evaluating their hiring model because the demand for legal work is depressed, and they can’t forecast when it will recover. Firms responded by laying off associates, cutting salaries and postponing the start dates of the 2009 class of law-school graduates until next year.

The deferrals are having a ripple effect on this year’s summer class and next year’s. Seyfarth, for instance, told this year’s summer class of 17, who will graduate in May 2010, that those who are offered jobs won’t be able to start working until January 2011.

That makes for uncertain times for the class of 2011. At Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, the number of firms and other organizations coming to campus will be about half of last year’s total of 100, said Michael Keller, assistant dean for career and professional development.

Typically up to 15 percent of Indiana’s students would find jobs in Chicago every year. This year Keller is telling students to expand their geographic horizons.

Layoffs: True Partners Consulting, a Chicago tax-advisory firm, laid off 15 employees last week, about 6 percent of its U.S. work force of 231. All of the layoffs occurred in Chicago, where the firm currently has 95 employees, a spokesperson said. True Partners, which had experienced rapid growth since its formation about four years by some former Arthur Andersen professionals, blamed the downsizing on the recession.

About this blog

This blog is a chronicle of legal news and events of interest to the business community. Business reporter Ameet Sachdev will take you inside the courtroom as well as inside the gilded hallways of America’s largest law firms. He has covered the legal and business worlds for over 15 years. Have a comment or tip? Write to chicagolaw@tribune.com. Ameet Sachdev bioBusiness news emailed to you dailySubscribe to BizWrap